Books stolen from Calgary shop 0

[aardvark88]

15 hours ago, shadroch said:

Are those figures in Canadian money or has there been a run up on early FFs ?

 

 

I assume figures are in Cdn loonies based on current exchange rate of about $1 loonie = $0.689 US greenback unless Skrulls, Watcher and 1st Red Ghost got supa-hot last week?

[90sChild]

15 hours ago, JollyComics said:

Yes, it was posted here but it was a long time ago.    I was VERY lucky that I didn't lose $35,500 worth of my books without the insurance after shipping many packages to CL for five years without an incident.

I always photographed all books, keep recording all certification numbers and documentary before shipping them out.  There was a long line and I decided to drop them off at the post office (it was my biggest mistake in my life and I should had them to scan the barcodes) and watched the tracking number online for two days.  All boxes were NEVER scanned and the tracking numbers showed NO routes.  Went to PO where I dropped them off. They didn't have them.  CL never received them after 5 days (it was 2 day Priority Mail). Decided to contact USPS Inspector. They did their best to find those missing packages. It was already over two weeks and I was desperate. Watched eBay and all auction houses if my books showed up. I already informed CGC, CL, CC, HA and all other dealers (as much as I could provide all information to them). On the third week, I was jumpy and saw all my books were on eBay. The seller was https://www.sellmycomicbooks.com/  and dotcomcomics.  I contacted and explained them about my ordeals.  One of them was former CL employees and knew me well.  His partner who lives in Canada was hesitant to return my books back.  I decided to file a report to my local police and contacted PayPal to prevent them after I provided all documentary plus the police report.  The owners decided to do same thing with their local police.  CL was informed and acknowledged by both of us.  All of my books were only ten miles away from CL.  Pretty close.  Finally we learned that person who sold my books to Sell My Comic Books for only $7500 out of Chicago (that was my hunch).  We got her name and reported to USPS inspector.  PayPal decided to refund all money to them and asked them to return my books. I decided to ask the former CL employee to mail all of my books to CL until all of them were safe inside CL.  We just learned very little information about her.  She worked for USPS and decided to sell my books to get cash for her brother and boyfriend for drugs.  That was all we know.  USPS inspector disclosed all information.  I think they were fired and got arrested but there was no way we would know of.  My local police and other police closed the cases.  Only one book is missing. I think it's possibly somewhere in Chicago. Who knows?  I learned my lesson and always have them to scan the barcodes at USPS so all boxes can be tracked anywhere. I have to buy the insurance that over $500 every time.   That was the only incident in 40 years of collecting/selling/buying comic books.

I hate to see all beauties, rarities and expensive books are being stolen and are never seen again.

BTW,   all boxes are no longer routing through Chicago mail processing center after multiple mail thieves. That whole building is closed down and is cleansed.  That was what I heard two years ago.  I used to get scared of my packages going through that dreaded place but not anymore.

Thanks for sharing this.  I always hate waiting in line to get my outgoing books scanned, but I always do it.  Since coronavirus is getting so out of hand, last time I went in I asked the clerk if they scan the packages if I just drop them in the outgoing mail area.  She said they do scan them in the back.  But now we see exactly what happens if those workers in the back decide NOT TO scan them and keep the packages themselves.  I'll have to continue waiting in long lines even with my prepaid mail, just to make sure I can get the proof of that clerk scanning receipt of the item on the tracking.
 

[JollyComics]

34 minutes ago, BaronSamedi said:

"WHERE ARE THE BOOKS!"

Beautiful.

[SkintDoctor]

Just now, JollyComics said:

Beautiful.

It was an amazing movie for non SJW's, in which I fully agree with the tactics deployed in attaining information

[JollyComics]

1 hour ago, cylinderofantigod said:

 

If they were any good at what they were doing, they were well-disguised and wearing something different while they were casing the place out. However, after reading the article, my guess is that they weren't, but that's probably a lot of video to go through to get anything interesting, since the earlier break-in might be connected.

 

 

The fact that they left the car in the parking lot, and that they didn't park several lots away in the first place, points to the fact that these guys are amateurs. Leaving a car in the parking lot when spooked is a very common beginner mistake in retail theft. When I saw the headlines, I figured that a comic store theft of high-value books was something that would likely have been pulled off by somebody smart, but my new guess is that this was a bunch of dumb tweakers who passed by the store one day and saw a price tag on the books.

If it were something like a professional theft ring, good luck getting one guy to rat out the others, but that's probably their best bet here. I dunno how it works in Canada, but in the States, you'd be looking at felony charges in any state for that amount, and they might offer one guy a deal in hopes of locating the other.

On the other hand, retail theft is a risk vs. reward thing, and if they're not looking at much time, $50K worth of goods might be worth a short stint in jail, depending upon the circumstances. Lot of DA's would cut them a sweet deal if they were first-time offenders, especially if they didn't think of stealing comics as a serious crime (regardless of how much they were worth).

 

 

It seems planned out, but it was obviously done by someone who isn't familiar with organized retail theft. They knew the guy was moving the books that day at that time somehow, so it might have even been somebody the comic store owner knew - or at least someone he knew gave the thieves inside info. Disgruntled employee, maybe? Someone who knows the local scumbag brigade says, "Hey, my boss is a and I know where some comics worth fifty grand are gonna be, you want in?" My third guess is that this was planned out by someone on the inside who just wanted the money the comics are worth, or even a collector(s) who wanted the comics for themselves.

I'd wager that the earlier break-in is connected somehow, but it also seems like someone who knows enough to get away with a break-in wouldn't be leaving their car in the same parking lot as the store, so who knows.

Nice theories!  Sound like you are a true detective.

[cylinderofantigod]

4 minutes ago, JollyComics said:

Nice theories!  Sound like you are a true detective.

Or else a bit of a scumbag myself and happen to have a light working knowledge of such things.

Either way, stealing from mom and pop shops and/or comic book stores is disgusting, and I hope the piffle (this board keeps deleting my profanity, have to start using new words) gets caught. Not by the cops (as a scumbag, such a wish would seem slightly blasphemous), but by someone who can bust his head in and take the books back.

[JollyComics]

39 minutes ago, cylinderofantigod said:

Or else a bit of a scumbag myself and happen to have a light working knowledge of such things.

Either way, stealing from mom and pop shops and/or comic book stores is disgusting, and I hope the piffle (this board keeps deleting my profanity, have to start using new words) gets caught. Not by the cops (as a scumbag, such a wish would seem slightly blasphemous), but by someone who can bust his head in and take the books back.

You have a nice visual.  My wife always asks me why that crime occured.  I have to use my "criminal mind" to act the scene.  My wife understood immediately and told me to stop while I was in the halfway in the process.